After BSF arrests Bangladeshis, BGB apprehends Indians at the same border outpost hours later

Local residents lodge police complaint claiming BGB “kidnapped” the Indians as a retaliation for the BSF’s arrests; senior BSF official says the two sets of arrests in the same area may be a coincidence

Two Bangladeshis were arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) for entering Indian territory on Wednesday (October 2, 2024), hours before two Indians were arrested by Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) at the same Kakmarichar border outpost on the international border, albeit on the other side.

Local residents in the Sagarpara police station area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district described the BGB’s action as a retaliation for the BSF’s arrests, thiough a senior BSF official said that the successive events may simply be a coincidence.

“The Indian nationals Ainul Haque and Soebnobi Sheikh have not been arrested but kidnapped by BGB well inside the territory of India,” said Julfikar Ali, secretary of Border Development Committee in Sagarpara. Mr. Ali has lodged a police complaint at Sagarpara Police station about the arrest of the two Indians.

Arrested for trespass

According to a BSF press statement, one of its riverine patrols conducting a routine boat patrol on the Padma River on October 2 had spotted four Bangladeshi nationals in two engine-fitted country boats, trespassing nearly a kilometre into Indian waters.

“When challenged, two of the suspects fled toward Bangladeshi waters, but the BSF acted swiftly, capturing the remaining two along with one of the boats. The seized boat and the arrested men were brought to BOP Kakmarichar for further investigation,” the statement said.

‘Coincidence’

A senior BSF official from South Bengal Frontier said that the set of dual arrests by the BSF and BGB in the same area may be a coincidence. “The BGB has not given any hints that the apprehension of Indian nationals is retaliatory. Moreover, the Indian nationals have been produced before the court,” the official said.

The BSF official said that the BGB is taking a tough stand after the recent political developments in Bangladesh. The apprehension of Indians by the BGB is not a regular phenomenon, even as the BSF arrests thousands of Bangladeshis along the eastern border for illegally entering India.

Published - October 03, 2024 07:59 pm IST